Box Score

HILO, Hawaii — It was one comeback after the next for the Academy of Art University men's basketball team Tuesday at UHH Gymnasium, but the Urban Knights fell short in the opening game of their season-ending Hawaii road trip as host University of Hawaii at Hilo came away with an 85-79 Pacific West Conference victory.
 
The Urban Knights (7-17, 5-13 PacWest) trailed by 16 points on two separate occasions in the first half, but erased the deficit with a 26-10 run to tie the game at 43-43 with under a minute to play before halftime. ART U would head into the break with a one-point, 46-45 lead thanks to two of sophomore guard Herman Pratt IV's team-leading 15 points coming on a 12-foot jumper right before the buzzer.
 
It was a strong finish to the half for the Urban Knights, who began the game missing their first five shots and going 1-for-9. ART U went 7-for-10 from the field over the first half's final six minutes, making four straight to end the half and forcing five turnovers.
 
But Hawaii-Hilo (11-13, 7-11 PacWest) stormed out of halftime with a 14-2 run led almost entirely by Dominique Campbell, who topped all players in the game with 33 points. Campbell scored 12 of the run's 14 points, going 6-for-8 and getting six of his points on second-chance opportunities. The Vulcans again putt pressure on Academy of Art by forcing four turnovers and holding it to 1-for-4 shooting in the first five minutes.
 
ART U continued to pursue and dipped the deficit under double digits with three minutes left. The Urban Knights were still not quitting when senior guard Alexis Moore forced a turnover with a minute left to play and drained a jumper from the top of the key to make it a three-point game at 82-79. But UHH went 3-for-4 from the free-throw line in the game's final 30 seconds and ART U missed their last two 3-point attempts to end the game.
 
Moore was the Knights' second-leading scorer with 14 points. He also had five rebounds, five assists and a steal. Freshman guard Jase Harrison scored 11 points and grabbed a team-high seven boards. Junior forward Nick Cary scored 11 points with two 3-pointers.
 
Hawaii-Hilo had three double-figure scorers led by Campbell. Tre Johnson poured in 15 and Yevgeniy Dyachenko contributed 10. UHH out-rebounded ART U 33-31 and outshot them 60.8 percent to 42.2 percent.
 
Academy of Art next travels to the island of Oahu to face BYU-Hawaii at 7:30 p.m. HST on Thursday.